


Thyme2Leaf

by toastpiercer



Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: Bad Advice, Canon Character of Color, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Prostitution, Vegetarians & Vegans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:55:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8120782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toastpiercer/pseuds/toastpiercer
Summary: "You know what, Gus, I’ve been thinking,” Lydia said as they stepped out into the blinding Arizona sun. She clapped him gingerly on the shoulder, pressing his dark suit close against his arm. The weight of her hand felt like a clothes iron. “I think it’s high time for you to get back out there, you know, in terms of meeting people.”





	

"You know what, Gus, I’ve been thinking,” Lydia said as they stepped out into the blinding Arizona sun. She clapped him gingerly on the shoulder, pressing his dark suit close against his arm. The weight of her hand felt like a clothes iron. “I think it’s high time for you to get back out there, you know, in terms of meeting people.”

They were barely out of the office. Gus usually had more time to plot the trajectory of the conversation. He generally liked to keep things focused safely away from himself, onto topics like Kiira’s hobbies, alternative sweeteners, irritating department store clerks, and the latest trends in luxury kitchen countertops.

Gus touched his porous, dry tongue to the roof of his porous, dry mouth. It caught. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to the desert, or ever stop hating it.

The weather didn’t bother Lydia. She brisked alongside him, shoes clattering rhythmically against the pavement. Even in heels, she had to hurry to keep pace.

Gus wondered what practical thought, if any, went into the design of the shoe, and if there was anything to keep the heated concrete from melting the plastic down flat.

“A man like you should have, like, a hunky, dumb trophy husband, or something,” Lydia continued, unperturbed. “You know, someone to show off when you have the board over for dinner. I mean, we’re based out of Europe. Christ, it’s not even that big of a deal in most of America anymore.”

There was a cement truck parked on the next street corner. Gus watched the blue stripes spin idly on its fat round body, and wondered how much longer it could possibly, possibly be to what Lydia had assured him was the best raw-food vegan place in Phoenix.

“You know, I think I heard from Ben, you know, Ben in marketing, that ‘Seeking Arrangement’ just added a, what do you call it, m-for-m section. And I get that it’s hard to get back into the swing of things, but maybe you could start by hiring someone off of Backpage, you know. Just to get back into the drivers seat. Some of those guys only go for like, 600 an hour, it’s ridiculous.”

Lydia made a fist and swung it vaguely in his direction. Gus had once seen her do the same thing to Kiira after her Lerdrit lesson, so he took it she meant the gesture to be encouraging.

She rounded in front of him, blocking the door to the restaurant. The sign above the door told him it was called “Thyme2Leaf.”

Gus couldn’t see Lydia’s eyes through her sunglasses, but her mouth looked expectant, anxiously awaiting his answer. His own face shone back at him in the dark lenses, glossy and convex, warped like a beetle’s shell.

“Well,” Gus said, peeling his dry tongue back down from the roof of his mouth. “I’ll certainly keep that in mind.”

It was not one of his more convincing lies. He did not expect Lydia to believe him.


End file.
